The Morning After
by lostsword
Summary: Hiccup and Astrid's relationship continues to flourish as the end of their senior year approaches. HiccupxAstrid. Modern. Sequel to Stay Here Tonight.
1. T

**A/N: So this finally happened. I'll go ahead and assure you I have tons of material to put out here, so don't get freaked out by how short this is. I think this fic is going to be a lot longer than the original one, but it will have shorter chapters. Maybe they'll grow longer. We'll see. Anyways, here's the long awaited continuation of Stay Here Tonight. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HTTYD...yet.**

"This is going to be interesting," Astrid commented dryly as she and Hiccup gazed out at the school entrance from the confines of his truck. They had already gotten more than one surprised look from random students they had passed when they had pulled into the parking lot.

"Eh, you're worth anything they can throw at me," Hiccup said simply as he unbuckled his seat belt and turned the truck off.

He had barely gotten the keys out before Astrid yanked him towards her and their lips had connected beautifully. They remained like that for several seconds and judging by the muffled gasping going on outside, several people were witness to their brief moment.

"How do you do that?" Astrid questioned as she looked him in the eyes.

"Do what?"

"Be so...so _amazing_ ," She explained as she kissed him again.

"I _am_ pretty amazing," Hiccup agreed as he kissed her back.

Astrid smirked and shoved him backwards and out of the truck before she got out herself.

"OW!" Hiccup cried as he landed in a heap on the concrete below the truck.

"That's for being arrogant,"

Hiccup sighed and met her for another kiss.

"And that was for everything else." Astrid added as she grabbed his hand with hers and made her way towards the school.

"You are so lucky you're perfect," Hiccup muttered teasingly in her ear. Astrid blushed heavily and elbowed him gently, but their hands remained firmly clasped together.

As they made their way into the building, the whispers began to appear from almost nowhere. The stares and finger pointing began to multiply as the gossip tales exploded like wildfire. No one could believe that Astrid Hofferson—queen of the social hierarchy within the school—had left for the weekend dating Snoutlout Jorgenson—the king of the school—and come back holding hands with _Hiccup_ of all people.

Snippets of conversation filtered into their ears as they walked towards Astrid's locker. Everything from as cliché as brainwashing to something as remarkably believable as payback against Snout had flown across the hallways during the minute and a half long walk.

Few had missed Astrid's relationship drama it seemed, even if few had been witness to it.

As they came to Astrid's locker, they came face to face with Ruffnut Thorston. The platinum blonde cheerleader was leaning against Astrid's locker, her iconic leather jacket and baseball bat giving her a look that most traditional cheerleaders would consider social suicide.

Astrid let go of Hiccup's hand and crossed her arms. Ruffnut straightened up off the locker and walked slowly towards her former friend. Though she gave off a tough as nails demeanor, it was clear by how red her eyes were around the edges that she had spent the majority of the weekend crying.

"Ruff."

"Strid."

The two locked eyes and the hallways seemed to empty as everyone got clear from the impending cataclysmic showdown.

"I'm sorry."

Even Hiccup had to pause at that one.

Astrid Hofferson and Ruffnut Thorston were known for a few things. Chief among them was that they were the only cheerleaders who could act like boys and get away with it. Second to that was that they never apologized to _anyone_.

Ever.

Astrid took in her friends crumpled appearance and watched in disbelief as Ruff offered her the baseball bat handle first.

"You...you can break...it...or whatever...if you want," Ruff said, looking away.

Astrid felt her stomach flop violently as she heard that. That baseball bat was Ruffnut's favorite bat. It was her good luck charm during her soft-ball seasons. It meant the world to her and she never let anyone else touch it.

To _offer_ Astrid _that_ as a way of begging for forgiveness...there wasn't a way to fully grasp the impact behind such a statement.

"No...Snout's broken enough things with his stupidity," Astrid said and pulled her friend in for a hug. The two remained like that for a second as they made up and then they separated. Ruffnut immediately shoved her bat in Hiccup's face.

"You hurt her feelings and I'll hurt your face!" She snapped, swinging back into being Astrid's best friend as if they had never even had a fight.

"You have my word...scout's honor?" Hiccup said uneasily as he held up his hand. Both girls looked at him incredulously before looking at each other.

"He's worth it, believe me," Astrid assured her friend.

* * *

The rest of the day flew by after that.

Hiccup and Astrid had the first three classes together and in the second one they learned that Snoutlout had called in sick and was out for the day.

"Coward," Astrid muttered.

They ended up separating for a few periods but met up again at lunch. For the first time in as long as anyone could remember Astrid didn't sit with the normal jock crowd and instead found a table on the other side of the room with Hiccup. Ruff appeared shortly after with her twin brother Tuffnut and at almost the same time Fishlegs appeared as well.

Unlike how he had feared it would go, Hiccup found himself enjoying lunch for the first time in years. Snout was nowhere to be seen and for once he didn't have to worry about his food being stolen or thrown at him.

No one was laughing at him or teasing him except in a friendly way. Even the twins were happy to have Fishlegs at the table. The burly lineman had been immediately put to work re-explaining a science lesson the two had missed and were in desperate need of.

The test was next period.

"This is nice." Astrid said as she leaned on Hiccup after they had finished eating. There was still another ten minutes left until the bell rang and the small group of new friends were simply content to enjoy the time until the bell clanged.

The day shot forward again as Hiccup and Astrid met up again for the last two classes of the day and then ultimately fled the campus grounds together for his house.


	2. H

"H-Hiccup..."

He froze.

"That...that's..."

Astrid was _directly behind him_.

"That's the most b-beautiful p-portrait of me I-I've ever se-seen..."

She was standing behind his chair and her eyes were slightly teary as she stared at the image. Her body was shaking slightly as she stared at the small piece of paper.

"You are...you are so..."

"Astrid?" Hiccup got up and moved over to where she was standing. She let him pull her into his arms as she cried softly.

"I...I feel like such a _wimp_ ," she muttered as she wiped at her eyes.

"You're _not_ a wimp."

"I'm _crying_ over a picture."

"It's a very beautiful picture though."

WHAM!

"That's for b-being creepy!" Astrid said, her voice cracking as she tried to rain in her emotions. He was already leaning forward when she hit him again.

WHAM!

"Wha-"

"That's for _assuming_ I _wanted_ to kiss you," her voice was almost back to normal when she leaned towards his half withdrawn face.

"Jee-"

The same static explosion of energy and heat that normally erupted from locking his lips upon Astrid's was still as strong as ever as Hiccup deepened the kiss. Astrid immediately deepened it further and the two were soon drawn into an all out make-out session.

Despite the amount of times—and there were _many_ —that they had kissed, Hiccup had yet to grow tired of it. He had heard that after the first few times kissing the same girl got old as you fell into a routine. But he still felt the same static energy he felt every time he kissed Astrid.

Kissing her was just too perfect. He was dominate at some points, she was dominate at others. Sometimes they fought back and forth and other times they simply kissed gently back and forth.

It was never a routine. It was an unearthly feeling that left the both of them floating in the clouds after each lip-to-lip contact between the two.

Somehow they ended up at his desk chair again, Hiccup was sitting in it while Astrid straddled him. Their hands were roaming as bold as ever and their moans were starting to go from light pants to full on gasping.

"Hiccup?" A voice said through the door as someone rapped upon the wooden surface several times.

Hiccup swore and Astrid felt her entire body lock up in fear. They hadn't even thought about the fact that Hiccup's father would be home from his trip today. They hadn't even bothered to hide any evidence that Astrid and Hiccup had basically shacked up together all weekend.

In short, they were utterly, _utterly_ screwed.

"J-just one m-minute!" Hiccup cried in fear as he struggled to zip up his pants and while Astrid adjusted her shirt. They had barely made themselves as decent as they could when the door swung open and Stoick walked into the room.

They stared at the large and intimidating form of the city mayor and he stared back at them. Stoick's mouth opened and closed several times, vaguely resembling a fish gasping for breath. The younger Haddock smiled uneasily and the blonde haired Hofferson gave a little shy wave.

There was a _long_ awkward silence.

Stoick abruptly turned around and left the room.

"Glad to s-see you're socializing son! D-dinner's in an hour!" Stoick managed to sputter out over his shoulder as he slammed the door and ran down the stairs.

The silence continued for a few more seconds as the two teens waited to see if the whole thing had just been a trick of their imaginations.

"That was weird..." Hiccup said slowly.

"VALKA WE'RE GOING TO HAVE GRANDKIDS!" Stoick bellowed from the entire other side of the house.

Both teens blushed heavily.

"OW! WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS WOMAN!?"

"Well...you can kill me now..." Hiccup said simply and fell backwards onto his bed. Astrid—who was just as mortified as Hiccup—chuckled uneasily and fell down beside him.

"I'm not letting you die just yet," She said as she leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek, "you're entirely too much fun."

"Great! I'm just amusement to you then?" Hiccup said dramatically as he smiled at her. The awkward tension had left the room almost immediately and they were already halfway to returning to their make-out session.

"You've found me out," Astrid said and leaned in to kiss him.

WHAM!

"D-did you just-" Astrid—her eyes wide with stunned surprise—didn't even finish her question before Hiccup leaned in to capture her lips.

"That's so you know what it feels like," he teased before kissing her at last.

"And that's just because."


	3. E

"And that's how we got the highest grade in the school for our history project," Hiccup explained as he finished his story about he and Astrid had become friends to his parents.

Both nodded approvingly and Hiccup could only thank Thor for the tenth time in the last five minutes that they bought all of the careful lying and half-truths he had just handed his parents.

After they had both calmed down, Hiccup and Astrid had gone downstairs in an attempt to flee the house before dinner was ready. Sadly Hiccup's mother had just finished her preparations and had scolded her son on trying to kick a lady out of the house right before they had the evening meal.

And so here the two were, sitting together opposite the mayor and his wife while eating Valka's five-star cooking in the fancy dining room that Hiccup's father normally reserved for business dinners.

His parents were really putting out all the stops tonight.

"So, Astrid, when will your parents be returning from their trip?" Valka asked politely while smiling at the young—and _very_ attractive—woman that her son had brought home.

"Oh, they should be home soon. They said they'd be back late Monday." Astrid relied, the atmosphere in the Haddock's lavish dining room not quite choking, but not quite easy-going either. The elder Haddock couple were immensely interested in the lady that they had discovered in their only child's bedroom.

Stoick, of course, was doing his best to be quiet—on his wife's orders—and Valka had been trying to get as much information out of Astrid as she could without further disturbing the girl. The last thing she needed was to scare off the first woman her son had managed to catch the eye of.

"Ah, that's good to hear. What about your sister? I heard she was in France for a few months." Stoick said at last, unable to keep quiet any longer.

Valka politely kicked him in the shin.

"She's always out, uh, rarely ever home." Astrid said while eyeing Stoick curiously, the massive man was wincing intensely and looked like he might even be choking with how red his face was getting.

"I remember when she used to help us at the shelter before Hiccup was born. Such a nice girl," Valka commented, thinking back to the early days of her animal shelter.

"I didn't know she had volunteered there," Astrid said, surprised at this information.

"Oh we use to dot on her a good deal, she was quite the help." Valka added as an idea began to form in her mind.

Sadly her husband beat her to it.

"You should come by and help out lass! We'd love to have a Hofferson in our family again!" Stoick threw out excitedly after he had finally recovered from his wife's shin attack.

A discreet thump could be heard and Stoick's eyes widened.

"I'll be right back," was all he managed to throw out before fleeing into the kitchen. The sounds of screaming and dishes crashing could be heard as something heavy bounced around screaming about shin bones, bruises, and Scottish women.

"I'm going to go check on him, be right back dear," Valka said sweetly as she excused herself to go yell at her daft husband.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged glances before immediately bolting from the room and then the house altogether.

"You're mother is quite the women," Astrid commented as they flew down the street in Hiccups truck.

"Oh, you have no idea," Hiccup said thinking about the earful he was going to get when he got home. His mother would not be happy that he had left dinner unexcused and with such a beautiful women for her to question it was surely to be a double earful.

They fell into a comfortable silence for several moments as the radio played softly. Hiccup had immediately made his way towards Astrid's house, but he didn't really want to separate from her this early. With the exception of a few classes earlier today, he had been virtually attached at the hip with her since Saturday evening.

Astrid seemed to have the same thoughts. "You know...you should turn right..." She said as she eyed the road that they were traveling down that would lead ultimately to her house.

"There's nothing down that way," Hiccup said automatically, not even thinking about the context of what she had said.

A pause.

Hiccup swung the truck to the right.

* * *

"Thank you for the ride home," Astrid said as she straightened her hair and eyed her boyfriend—had she really already classified him as such?—before leaning over and kissing his cheek.

The auburn haired man blushed lightly before turning and bringing her closer to give her a gentle kiss.

"You know...I wouldn't mind...you know...helping out at the shelter like your mom suggested," Astrid said at last. They both couldn't help but wince at the reminder of _that_ particular dinner conversation.

"That...that would be amazing. You're amazing." Was all Hiccup could muster at the thought of Astrid working with him at the shelter.

"It's settled then," Astrid said and kissed him again.

"I'll let my mom know," Hiccup said before pulling back. In the background they could hear the front door open and a man call something out at Astrid.

She sighed and kissed Hiccup again before whacking him lightly on the chest. Not giving him a chance to say anything, she got out of the truck and headed towards her house. Unsure of what to do, Hiccup waved awkwardly at the man he was almost certain was her father before taking off down the street towards his home.

He had a lot of explaining to do when he got home.


	4. M

"There...There's so many." Was all Astrid could manage as she gazed at the endless number of cages and the animals within them.

"That there are," Valka agreed as she eyed the two teens that had tagged along with her son and his...female friend.

"Hiccup knows what needs to be done, so I'll leave you all to it," she said before heading back to her office. There were still a half dozen forms she needed to fill out so more ownerless animals could be given shelter.

Hiccup was left in the room with Astrid and the twins—who had invited themselves along strictly on the principle of avoiding boredom and discovering adventure—looking to him for guidance.

"So...I guess we'll start with letting them out..." Hiccup began, his voice laced with uncertainty as the three followed him to a nearby cage.

"Some of these guy are a little hostile at first, so jus-" Hiccup unlatched the cage and a large German-Shepard came bounding out towards the auburn haired teen with a blood curdling snarl. The trio watching him were just about to rush in and help their friend when they realized that Hiccup had the animal completely under his control.

The dog was wagging its tail and panting softly as it licked Hiccup's hand while he scratched the underside of it's neck.

"Just be gentle with them and scratch them...it uh, takes hands on learning, I guess?" Hiccup said as he hooked a guide line to the dogs collar and continued to another cage.

"So who's first?"

Astrid felt her two terrified friends push her forward and she glared at them over her shoulder before turning back to Hiccup. The gentle cousin of her douchebag ex unlocked the cage and a slight hissing could be heard. Looking inside, Astrid saw a blue and yellow stripped snake slithering about in a rock bed with a heater set up nearby.

"You're k-kidding right?" Astrid said as she stared at Hiccup, sounding far less sure of herself than she normally did.

"Not really," he replied, trying to fight back a smile at her face. It was priceless and he didn't even have a camera.

"Why do you even have a snake in here!?" Astrid complained as she tried to back up, only for Ruffnut to stop her.

"Scared Hofferson?" She taunted.

"We don't normally keep reptiles here, but she was stuck in a wire fence and my mom wanted to let her recover before we released her." Hiccup explained as he gestured for Astrid to pick the snake up.

"It'll bite me..." Astrid said, still hesitant.

Hiccup sighed and handed the guide line to Tuffnut before reaching into the cage and gently grabbing the snake. It slid up his arm a little bit, but other than that it remained completely docile. Hiccup then gestured for Astrid to come closer and he slowly placed the snake along her arm.

It felt weird to her as the armored scales of the snake slid across her forearm and began to coil around her. It was only Hiccup's trusting and encouraging gaze that kept her from flinging the thing across the room. After a minute, she actually got used to the feeling and after she had calmed down she noticed that there were in fact small scar marks along the scales from where the steel wire had cut into the snake.

"She's a common garter and while they do have poison, there isn't enough to do you any harm." Hiccup explained.

"Rad..." Ruffnut and Tuffnut whispered together as they stared at the creature in awe. Hiccup led them to another set of cages and the twins—feeling a little less apprehensive after seeing two other animals tamed easily enough—went about bringing out their own charges.

Ruffnut got her bulldog out of the cage easily enough and was warming up to it as it licked her palm.

Tuffnut staggered down the aisle screaming at the top of his lungs as his bulldog bit his ankle.

"HICCUP WHAT THE HELL!?"

* * *

After they had gotten the animals out of their cages—and Tuffnut had gotten his ankle treated—they had gone out into the heavily fenced-in pasture behind the shelter's main building and let their charges roam free for the most part.

"She moves so fast!" Astrid commented watching the snake slide through the grass like a hot knife through butter. It did seem to have issues with moving the lower sections of its body however.

"She's almost healed up, but mom wanted to wait another week or so." Hiccup explained while Tuffnut and Ruffnut predictably got into a fight over who's bulldog was tougher and then they were wrestling on the ground.

As luck would have it, the two bulldogs took after their overseers and began to tussle across the soft grass of the pasture alongside the Thorston twins.

"Where's Fish?" Astrid asked as she remembered the large, but knowledgeable, lineman had been unable to join them today.

"He said he had practice and then a ton of homework, so he couldn't make it this time." Hiccup said as he patted the Shepard laying at his feet before smiling mischievously.

"What are you up to-" Astrid started to say, only for Hiccup to toss a small neon green frisbee towards the dueling duos across the pasture from them. The frisbee sailed perfectly and wacked Tuffnut in the back of the head with a loud "whack!"

The blonde man had barely enough time to turn around and scream at them before the German-Shepard bull rushed the poor teen, sending him straight to the floor as the dog tried to reclaim the green trophy. Of course the bulldog pair stopped their fight and ran to help the tall blonde and that ended up turning into a massive scrap.

Ruffnut was laying on her side laughing so hard that Hiccup was worried she would pass out as her brother screamed in pain and tried to fight his way out from under the threeway dog war going on ontop of him.

"Get them off! Get them off! Get them off!"

Hiccup gave up and burst out laughing as Astrid joined him on the grassy floor as they all enjoyed the memorable sight.

"That was _not_ funny!" Tuffnut complained later as they began to bring the animals back into the shelter and their cages.

"Totally was," Ruffnut taunted.

"Was not!"

"Was!"

"Not!"

"Was!"

"No-AGH!"

Tuffnut and Ruffnut ended up rolling around on the floor in another punch-up as the animals all went wild at the sight of the two fighting.


	5. O

The rest of the afternoon went about the same way for the most part. They got animals out of their cages, they let them loose for an hour, and they generally enjoyed themselves.

Tuffnut managed to avoid any more incidents that would see him sent back to Hiccup's mother for medical care and Ruffnut continued to tease him about all the current bandages he was sporting.

It was a relaxing day.

After they had helped his mother out, the foursome left the shelter and headed to the Mead and Seed—a small pub on the edge of town that served both solid brew and the best wings.

"I still can't believe you got that cut up by a couple little dogs," Fishlegs said in disbelief as he stared at all of the cuts and bandages across Tuffnut's face and body. Their friend had finally finished up his homework and had come out to eat with them.

"Dude, they were demonic! They were hellspawn!" Tuffnut raved as he downed his sorrows and piled into the endless plate of wings they had ordered.

"Ah, you're being a wimp," Ruffnut complained while smirking at Astrid. Her brother immediately rose to the challenge and the two started yet another fist fight.

"Do they _ever_ stop?" Hiccup asked, incredulous as he stared at the sibling pair duking it out on the wooden floors of the pub.

"Actually their normally better," Astrid informed him before kissing his cheek.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked, surprised at the random affectionate gesture on her part.

"I haven't kissed you enough this chapter, so I figured I should catch up," Astrid said smirking.

"That's absolutely breaking the fourth wall!" Tuffnut complained as he and Ruffnut battled back and forth between choke holds.

"Is not!" Ruff snapped, defending her friend.

"Is!"

"Not!"

"Is!"

Hiccup just sighed and drank his mead while the twins fight erupted once again.

"So are you guys ready for the break?" Fishlegs said while keeping one eye on the fight.

"Hadn't even really thought about it to be honest," Hiccup admitted as he realized that snoggletog was right around the corner.

"There'll be soooo much _food_!" Fishlegs said excitedly thinking about the wintery feasts that were only a few weeks away.

"The archery tournament is during snoggletog too," Astrid said.

"Are you entering?"

"I might," she admitted as she looked at Hiccup, "will you be cheering me on?"

"I'll be your biggest fan," he assured her as she smiled at him.

"G-guys a little h-help?!" Tuff begged as Ruffnut finally pinned him with both of her arms around his throat.

/

Hiccup and Astrid were lounging in her backyard staring up at the stars. The blonde haired girl was curled up in his lap and the auburn haired teen was laying on the grass.

"That really is an Emu..." Astrid mumbled sleepily as she stared at the place in the sky Hiccup had been pointing to.

He had been explaining to her how the constellation was different from Orion's belt. Apparently the Emu bird in the sky was defined by dark clouds rather than physical stars.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed as he gently kissed the back of her ear, "I like Orion more though. Better story."

"You're one for stories," Astrid agreed as she remembered how much he had known about Norse mythology back when they had done that history project together.

Hiccup merely hummed his agreement to her statement as he felt her turn over completely and snuggle tighter into his chest.

Though the blushing had gone down as they had gotten more comfortable around the other, Hiccup couldn't help but feel his face color a dark red. He lad there for several minutes, simply enjoying the feeling of Astrid in his arms again, before he tried to get up and bring her inside.

"Nhuh, stay." Astrid mumbled out and Hiccup paused at the sense of deja vu he was getting from that statement.

From the situation he was facing again.

Unable to say no to the blonde haired girl of his dreams, Hiccup simply accepted it as it was and curled up with her on the grass. Someone would come out to get them before it got too cold and he was far too content with Astrid curled up into him as she was.

And with that thought, Hiccup joined Astrid in the slumbering land of dreams.


	6. R

Click.

Wurrrrrrh.

Click.

Hiccup groaned and slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a large bearded man taking pictures of him and Astrid with a cellphone.

Absentmindedly, Hiccup noted someone had put a thick blanket over the two of them at some point in the night. Regardless, the little device was zooming in and taking a photo before the man zoomed it back out and took a shot with a wider frame of the teens curled up on one another.

The weirdest part was that the brute was giggling like a grade school girl.

The scariest part was that the mountain of a man was Astrid's father.

"I told you not to wake them!" Astrid's mother hissed as she came outside and saw her husband taking pictures of the couple.

"I coulndn't just leave _that_ undocumented!" Sigrum Hofferson defended as he gestured towards the bundle of blonde hair that was still deeply asleep and even more deeply tucked into Hiccups arms.

It was a rather cure sight.

"I don't _care_ ," Anka Hofferson snapped softly, her German accent becoming more apparent as she grabbed her husband by the ear and led him back towards the house.

Hiccup had barely allowed himself to start breathing again when Astrid began to stir. The blonde opened her eyes and looked up at him in confusion before widening in terror.

"Crap, it's morning!" Astrid said and sat up in a rush as she glanced at the house.

"Your parents already saw us," Hiccup told her meekly, "your dad got pictures..."

Astrid just sighed and sank back down into his awaiting arms. He rubbed her back gently as she grumbled to herself before leaning up and kissing his neck softly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you into this situation."

Hiccup shrugged, content for the moment, even if he was scared of her parents having damning evidence of him sleeping with their daughter. They remained like that for a long moment, simply enjoying each others company in the silence of the early morning before Astrid was forced to get up and drag her boyfriend inside.

Her parents were waiting for them at the breakfast table, a lavish spread set out by the two parents.

Well, lavish by Hofferson terms.

Thick slices of toast with butter, hard rolls, an abundant mountain of thin pancakes, and a large bowl of hard-boiled eggs complimented a huge salad bowl sitting next to a plain stew bowl. It wasn't too fancy, nor did it sport any overly fattening items.

It was warrior food for warriors—as Sigrum liked to call it from time to time.

"Ah! Good morning!" The father in question boomed out as he waved excitedly at the pair.

"Please join us for breakfast," Anka said pleasantly as she indicated the two empty spaces set up for them side by side.

Astrid held Hiccup's hand in a death grip as she nodded and the two made their way over to the table and sat down.

"So, care to introduce us to this young man?" Sigrum asked with just a hint of too much jolly enthusiasm as the younger couple put the smallest portion of food they could onto their plates.

"I'm surprised you didn't recognize him," Astrid said, "he's Hiccup Haddock, Mayor Haddock's son."

"Ah! Stoick's boy!" Sigrum grinned as he eyed the brunette up and down.

"You're the boy Valka keeps telling me about, you certainly live up to the description," Anka said.

"You know my mom?" Hiccup asked, surprised that the usually quiet and reclusive Hofferson heads knew both of his parents so well.

"We get coffee before and after flights." Anka explained as she stirred the stew before pouring some of it into a bowl that she had just recently finished.

"Ah."

"Speaking of which, my flight to Sillamäggi was cancelled, so we'll both be in town for Snoggletog," Sigrum informed his daughter.

"Awesome," Astrid said half-heartedly, unsure of how to feel about her current situation at the moment.

"You are going this year, correct?" Anka asked.

"Of course."

"And with this dashing young man as your date?" Sigrum asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Wonderful!" Sigrum said happily, causing both teens to feel even more uneasy.

The conversation died down slightly as they finished eating and more small talk was exchanged briefly before Astrid managed to get them out of the kitchen and finally out of the house. Once they had a moment to themselves, Astrid shoved Hiccup against the front door and kissed him desperately.

"I'm sorry about my parents," Astrid said softly.

"Please, mine were worse," Hiccup countered.

"Shut up." Astrid said with a roll of her eyes.

"As you wish milady," Hiccup agreed before leaning down to kiss her again.

* * *

"Do we really have to do this?" Tuffnut asked glumly as he stared at the empty cages.

"Yes," Hiccup said, his tone sympathetic as he and the male Thorston began to thoroughly clean the metallic homes of the shelter's animals. Armed with latex gloves and an array of bottles of varying colors, the two scrubbed and sprayed for hours as they sterilized the entire holding room.

"Why aren't the girls helping us?" Tuff asked randomly after stuffing a handful of pellets into a white trash bag.

"Astrid wanted to watch Stormfly shed her skin and Ruffnut hates doing real work," Hiccup said simply as he sprayed a cage down and began to wipe it with practiced care.

"But why isn't _Fishlegs_ helping us?"

Hiccup shrugged and moved on to the next cage as they talked. "He said he hadn't gotten a day out in the pasture yet, so it was only fair."

Ruff just grumbled and continued cleaning the cages. Despite being stuck cleaning a bunch of smelly cages, he wasn't really that upset. In fact, it sort of gave him a sense of pride to be doing something like cleaning cages for the little animals.

Everyone had taken to the shelter rather well, Hiccup thought. They were becoming as well-acquainted as Hiccup with each animal. Of course, there were some they had more of a connection with than others.

Astrid had fallen in love with her snake, and even the Thorstons had stayed with their bulldogs from that first day at the shelter as well.

Fishlegs had been concerned at first like the others had, but once he had overcome his own fears as well he had grown fond of a massive retriever that Hiccup's mother had brought back that very same day.

After only a few hours the two teens had finished cleaning out the cages and went out the back door into the pasture. Outside, dozens of animals of all shapes and sizes ran about freely as Astrid, Fishlegs, and Ruffnut supervised it all.

"Look!" Astrid cried holding up her snake, "her scales are all shiny and new!"

"Lovely," Tuffnut said sarcastically as he tossed a trashbag into the nearby dumpster. Before he could even react, half a dozen animals ranging from small cats to large dogs tackled him to the ground and began to assault him with their tongues.

"Oh that never gets old!" Ruff cackled as she rubbed her pitbull's head soothingly. Several cats and a poodle had curled up around her seated form as well.


	7. N

Hiccup stared.

And he stared.

And he _stared._

"Come on Hiccup! Don't be a _wuss_!" Tuff taunted as he and Ruff ran—elbows linked together and hands grasped together playfully—towards the edge of the cliff before skipping daintily out into nothing but empty air.

"Wooooooo!" The pair cried happily as they sailed down from the impossibly high cliff edge to the frosty waters below. They hit the waves with the force of mock one and left a twin set of cannonballs that soared an easy twenty or thirty feet up.

He was man enough to admit to himself that he was terrified out of his brilliant mind.

"Come on, don't look so scared," Astrid teased lightly as she squeezed his hand comfortingly, "even Fish jumped."

The splash that the big man had created after jumping had very nearly hit the edge of the cliff.

"I...I think you're all insane..." Hiccup muttered weakly as he watched as Astrid move towards the edge now.

"It's a tradition to jump the cliff before Snoggletog." Astrid reminded him.

"It's _winter_!" Hiccup argued ineffectively as Astrid smirked at him before turning to the edge of the cliff.

"Stop complaining, it'll be fun once you actually do it!" Astrid stated as she got closer to the edge.

"There's rocks down there...we could end up getting maimed or scarred up if we land wrong..." Hiccup tried to reason.

"It's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid said playfully as she winked at him.

"Yeah...pain... _love it_..." Hiccup said softly with a roll of his eyes.

"See you at the bottom Hiccup!" She cried before running the last few steps and soaring out into the air above Berk Bay. Hiccup was so scared of the drop he couldn't even appreciate the view of Astrid's figure in a bikini in mid-leap.

That alone said volumes about his present fear.

After Astrid had vanished Hiccup was left all alone on the cliff top. It was a truly sad state of affairs for him to be in too. His best friend had jumped before anyone—including even the crazy Thorston twins—else had. Now even his girlfriend had jumped while he wimped out at the top.

Had he mentioned how awesome it was to say Astrid was his girlfriend?

"Focus Hiccup. They're all watching you...waiting...so far below..." Hiccup shuffled slowly forward as he said this and gazed down...and down...and down...

"Oh man..." He mumbled as he tried to mentally calculate how far down that drop was and how fast his body would be going as he hit the icy waters below.

"Come on Hiccup!" His friends cried out enthusiastically from the bay below. The group was spread out in a wide semi-circle waiting for him to jump as was the tradition. There had been very few downsides to Hiccup suddenly gaining more than one friend.

Unhelpful peer-pressure was clearly one of them.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!" Tuff started to chant while Astrid, Fishlegs, and Ruffnut began to join him while cheerfully smacking at the waves as well.

Hiccup said a quick prayer for protection to whatever god could hear him before crossing himself and then running forward to jump out into the open air before the cliff face. He had the briefest flash of Fury screeching as she was known to do when being forced into a tub for her bath—Night had always enjoyed getting utterly wet and spraying Hiccup in the process—and then he was falling.

And falling.

And _falling._

Hiccup realized he was screaming.

And he _was_ screaming.

SPLASH!

Hiccup's world briefly turned frothy as he was dipped into the choppy ice waves of Berk's harbor before he was once again thrown back into the world of oxygen, if albeit a tad wetter than normal.

COLD, COLD, COLD, COLD!

Hiccup swore roundly as his friends cheered and clapped as they all chattered violently in the cold waves. He actually found that he felt slightly proud of his cliff jump and the icy kiss that Astrid placed on his cheek in her way of congratulating him was very well received with an enthusiastic kiss on the lips back.

"O-o-okay, c-can we l-leave now?" Fishlegs chattered after a few moments of semi-frozen attempts at staying afloat in the cold waters of the bay.

"Y-yeah, I'm w-with blubber-gut over t-there!" Ruff agreed after deciding that being a hard-ass was not worth freezing to death. They had done their jump and now it was time to retreat into the warmth of the indoors.

"I-I second t-that!" Hiccup added hastily as he and Astrid floated together.

There was suddenly a mad dash of kicking and limb flailing as the group of young adults began an impromptu swim-race back to shore.

Once upon the edges of the shoreline, rather than immediately fleeing the cold waves, a watery splash battle of deadly proportions broke out. With a wild cry the twins tried briefly to thoroughly soak the others before they could get out of the bay. This turned into an all-out water war that left the group of Berkians even more hypothermic than they already were.

"You're all absolutely mad," Valka said later as she observed the shivering forms huddled as close as they could get to the monstrously-sized main fireplace in the Haddock house's living room. The group had stumbled in shortly after halfheartedly drying off on the shore and had been defrosting from their cliff-jumping tradition ever since.

"W-well it was a g-g-good idea at the t-time," Hiccup grumbled sarcastically as Astrid snuggled deeper into his chest as she greedily stole as much warmth from his body as she could.

"I-I blame m-my s-sister," Tuffnut complained as Ruff glared at him angrily from her spot beside Fishlegs.

"Y-you're the o-one who said it'd be r-rad!" She snapped.

"S-so?" He snapped back.

"S-so it's you're d-dumb fault!" Ruffnut accused.

"N-no, it's y-yours!" Tuff exclaimed.

"Y-yours!" Ruff shot back.

"N-nu-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh!"

"Yuh!"

"Nuh!"

"Yuh!"

"M-moron!"

"D-doofus!"

The twin's arguing went through their normal cycle before it ultimately concluded with another famous—if slightly sluggish—Thorston punch-up.


	8. I

" _HAPPY SNOGGLETOG!_ "

Hiccup and Astrid shared a brief kiss as the couple shared in the joyous celebrations going on around them as the town cheered, clapped, and began the merry festivities in earnest. Streamers went flying and sparklers and fireworks flashed as music began to play.

"Happy snoggletog Hiccup," Astrid said as they parted and she hugged him tightly.

"Happy snoggletog Astrid," Hiccup stated as he and Astrid broke apart—though their hands remained warmly clasped together—and began to move about the booming town square.

Things had been going rather well as far as Hiccup could figure it. He and Astrid had been together for a little over two months so far and despite a few awkward or tense situations with Snoutlout everything had gone smoothly. The twins had adopted the bulldogs they had dotted on at the shelter, just as Fishlegs had claimed his massive retriever.

His mother had been especially ecstatic about Astrid adopting the snake—Astrid had oddly enough named her Stormfly—after it had become apparent that the scarred reptile would still have issues moving about even after her wounds had healed into faded scar tissue.

The gang still helped out at the shelter on whatever weekdays they could find time—Hiccup's presence wasn't even necessary for the twins to randomly show up some days—and on the weekends in the mornings. The animals loved all the extra attention and Valka had been pleased with the brighter attitude her son had started to sport after spending more time with others his age.

School had already been declining due to the winter holidays and with that abundance of free time social partying had picked up in earnest. Things had gotten a little hectic with Snoutout then, due to his status as the king of Berk High and the chief thrower of all parties in the area. In the end, things had smoothed out and Hiccup had been able to merge into the social scene of high school partying without any real fights—though there was a _lot_ of staring—breaking out.

Partying had been an eye-opening experience for the geeky brunette.

Sure Fishlegs had gone to a few house parties and other events after he had made it onto the football team and proved that his colossal size was almost as useful as his colossal brain, but Hiccup had only had second hand accounts—often third hand due to Fishleg's timid nature even while at such an openly wild scene—of the mayhem that ensued.

Now he was going from an outside observer to the boyfriend of Astrid Hofferson. The change was so sudden he had literally stunned a few people off their feet after he had shown up at the Jorgenson's with Astrid under his arm.

Snoutlout had of course tried to hit on Astrid. Failing there harder than he had ever expected, the brutish—if only slightly waking up now to the idea that Astrid had actually dumped him—football captain had then decided to make Hiccup go shot for shot with him. This initiation had the duel outcomes of both somewhat resolving things between Astrid and Snout while also leaving Hiccup sick for days. This had caused no end of teasing and delight for the twins.

Hiccup drank a lot more carefully now.

Sort of.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut cried as she and Tuffnut came up to the couple.

"Hiccup!" Tuffnut added.

"You guys are coming to Fishleg's house after this right?!" Ruffnut demanded as she and Tuff giggled excitedly.

"Yeah, we're just taking in the lights and stuff," Astrid told her as Hiccup idly wondered how much of his best friend's home would be left standing tomorrow. Fish's parents had decided to spend the holiday at a party across town and thus had left their book-smart son in-charge of the house for the night.

Naturally Snoutlout had wanted to throw a party.

And naturally it would probably incur large amounts of property damage and a hefty amount of paperwork for the local police by the time it was shut down.

"Cool, see you there!" Ruff stated as she and her brother turned away and headed off in search of more debauchery.

"Yeah, see you!" Tuff said over his shoulder as he waved excitedly.

"Those two are way to amped up for this," Hiccup stated simply as he watched them go.

Astrid snorted as she pulled him towards a light display that was more colorful than it was innovative.

"Yeah, well they live for wild adventures and a Jorgenson party at an Ingerman house has never been seen before...so it'll be one for the history books." She agreed as they strolled slowly down the road.

"I just hope it's not going to be the final chapter. If Fish's place gets trashed his parents will probably go into diabetic shock again..." Hiccup commented.

"It won't be _that_ bad," she said with an eye roll before a loud warcry could be heard moments before the two were dive-tackled by a tall, lithe, female.

"You _finally_ got together! Ah!" The tall blonde female cried happily as she hugged the pair with equal enthusiasm before letting them loose.

"Le?!" Astrid cried as she stared at her older sister in surprise.

"In the flesh," Leifa' Hofferson admitted cheerfully as she eyed the couple with a happy and knowing stare. The Danish captain was positively beaming at the two as she stood before them in her ruffled clothes and battered boots. She looked very much like an older, more rugged Astrid, if only more animated.

"W-when did you-" Astrid began,

"I spent snoggletog-eve with Aert and then came back as quick as I could to see you guys," the older Hofferson explained as she eyed the two of them again, "and you better believe I hurried when I heard about your new _boyfriend_ ," she stressed the last word heavily while smirking.

Astrid colored a bright red while Hiccup no-doubt sported a similar expression as they both sputtered in embarrassment.

"Y-you expected this?" Astrid demanded while cursing herself for stuttering.

"Well yeah!" Leifa' stated as if talking to a child many years younger than Astrid. "Hiccup's had a crush on you since you guys were like two, it's been so _obvious_ for so _many_ years I just figured you were being a popular bitch...but oh you proved me wrong! I'm so happy to have been wrong!" She was almost sing-song in her giddiness.

The blushing was even worse now as the two stared at each other, then the ground, then Leifa', then the ground, then each other, and then finally the ground again as they awkwardly held hands before her.

"Well I'm glad I got to bother you two and say a few things I've kept to myself for a few years, but I have other people to see and embarrass," Le said with a wink before starting to turn away after giving them both individual hugs this time. "Oh and Hiccup?"

"Y-yes?" He said, surprised at being addressed.

"I'm really happy As here has seen the light," Leifa' said as she winked again, "but if you hurt her...I will hurt you in ways you can't even comprehend because most of them are banned in the western world." She said in a sweet tone of voice that shouldn't have been possible given her current topic of discussion, if it could be called that.

"U-uh...yes ma'am...?" Hiccup squeaked in fear.

Leifa' nodded, "good. I'll see you kids around, bye now!" She said before taking off down the road in search of new targets of conversation.

"Well...that was something..." Astrid said slowly as they immediately began to walk hurriedly in the oppisite direction.

"Yeah..." Hiccup agreed as he briefly played with Astrid's hair after they had stopped to admire a tree covered in tinsel and other festive decorations.

"She's way too animated to be a Hofferson...then again she reminds me of my dad a lot of te time..." Astrid said before glancing up.

"Yeah well...what are you staring at?" Hiccup said as he glanced up at the thing that had captured Astrid's attention. It was a mistletoe hanging innocently above their furry-capped heads.

Oh.

"I do believe you owe me a kiss Mr. Haddock," Astrid teased.

"As milady commands," Hiccup shrugged good-naturedly before leaning in to kiss his girlfriend.

Whack!

" _Seriously_!?" Hiccup complained with exasperation heavy in his tone as Astrid smirked and yanked him towards her waiting mouth.

"Gotta keep in practice or you'll get soft," she beamed before their lips met.

That same electric explosion that was always familiar, yet never completely familiar, exploded between the two as green irises and blue irises closed in bliss. They held the kiss for several long seconds as it deepened and wove between and around them as only an affectionate kiss between a couple could.

At last they broke for air and Astrid leaned on Hiccup's chest contentedly as their faces remained only inches from the other.

"I love you," Hiccup and Astrid murmured briefly to each other at the same exact time. They both froze in shock as they realized what they had said had been said out loud. Then they blushed heavily as they stared at the other.

"I-I-I..."

Astrid saved the two of them from a truly awkward moment by leaning forward to kiss Hiccup.

He beat her to the punch and swept Astrid off her feet in a swooping lurch that left Astrid dangling backwards with one foot up in the air. Several bypassers and onlookers clapped or cheered as they watched the spectacle of young love displayed before them.

Breaking for air for the second time in less than a minute, Hiccup looked down into Astrid's eyes and felt his knees go weak at the blonde beauty in his arms. Astrid had a similar reaction as he stomach flopped nervously as she gazed up at the brunette holding her confidently in his arms.

"I love you," she said, no longer nervous at such a brazen declaration. It was unthinkable, it was simply too soon in their relationship—and how she _loved_ that she was in a relationship with Hiccup—to be making such a statement.

But it was also too simple, it made too much sense to even think it didn't make sense. Their entire relationship was like putting together a puzzle on the first go.

Every move they made was perfect. Every action felt right. They fit together better than Astrid and Snoutlout ever had. They fit together better than anyone she had ever heard of fitting together ever had.

"And I love you," Hiccup repeated bravely and both he and Astrid blushed lightly at his agreeing declaration.

They kissed again and it was a longer, more drawn out and emotional kiss. Then Hiccup pulled her back to her feet and now snuggled up to one another they continued their walk down main street.


End file.
